After a few tearful months, empty nesters plan to travel the world now that they finally have “FREEDOM” from their kids.

When the boss is away, the employees enjoy a long lunch and think “This is what FREEDOM feels like, when there is no one watching us“.

Yes, we talk about FREEDOM a LOT. But only a handful of us really appreciate the REAL meaning. Yes, I’ve read my history books and memorized the facts and figures and watched the movies but I certainly do NOT know what it feels like to be NOT FREE. Growing up in India my grandmother used to tell me stories of the time when they would huddle in their homes in the early evening with all the lights off. What it meant to not be able to voice your opinion on anything.

I shudder to think who I would be if I had not been born in a FREE Country and to live in one.

Today I enjoy freedom of speech (the biggest freedom of all), Freedom of religion, freedom to WORK! And last but not the least, sleep in peace knowing that I live in a FREE country. A country so great that I fail to find words to describe it. A country where I discovered and re-invented myself. Where I found friends for life and mentors who will always guide me. A country I call HOME.

My friends, I may talk about freedom loosely every day, but I know that FREEDOM is a privilege which is denied to many. And today, on July 4th, 2014, As I take family portraits and bake a Red-White and Blue dessert, I salute all the brave men and women who have made it possible for people like me who enjoy the FREEDOM all day every day.